As much of the nation battles cold weather, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is reminding employers this winter to take needed precautions to protect workers from the serious, and sometimes fatal, effects of carbon monoxide exposure.

An example of how dangerous the threat can be to workers, news came recently that a worker in a New England warehouse was found unconscious and seizing, suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

As officials would discover, several other workers at the site also became sick. An examination showed that all of the windows and doors were closed to conserve heat, there was no exhaust ventilation in the facility, and very high levels of carbon monoxide were measured at the site.

Employers Can Decrease Risk With Proper Ventilation

Every year, workers die from carbon monoxide poisoning, usually while using fuel-burning equipment and tools in buildings or semi-enclosed spaces without adequate ventilation. This can be especially true during the winter months when employees use this type of equipment in indoor spaces that have been sealed tightly to block out cold temperatures and wind.

Symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure can include everything from headaches, dizziness and drowsiness to nausea, vomiting or tightness across the chest. Severe carbon monoxide poisoning can cause neurological damage, coma and death.

For those not aware, sources of carbon monoxide can include anything that uses combustion to operate, such as gas generators, power tools, compressors, pumps, welding equipment, space heaters and furnaces.

Employers can decrease the risk to workers of carbon monoxide poisoning in the workplace by installing an effective ventilation system, avoid the use of fuel-burning equipment in enclosed or partially-enclosed spaces, use carbon monoxide detectors in areas where the hazard is a concern and take other precautions outlined in OSHA's Carbon Monoxide Fact Sheet.

Given the chance that even one worker can be injured or die from carbon monoxide poisoning, it behooves employers to take such a threat seriously.

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

As the Alberta (Canada) Federation of Labor (AFL) sees it, the recent fine given to oil company Sinopec amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

According to the AFL, the $1.5 million fine will have little or no impact on halting the company from continuing to have in place reported practices that endanger their employees.

During a recent court hearing, the Canadian subsidiary of Chinese oil corporation Sinopec was fined $1.5 million for an incident that led to the deaths of a pair of their employees their lives.

As AFL President Gil McGowan put it, “One and a half million dollars doesn’t even amount to a rounding error in the annual budget of a monstrous global corporation like Sinopec. This fine does nothing to dissuade them from playing fast and loose with the safety of their workforce.”

Imported Third World Health and Safety Standards

The story unfolded when Sinopec and a pair of other companies were charged after a 2007 container collapse resulted in the deaths of two temporary foreign workers at an oil sands project near Fort McKay, Alberta. In all, 53 charges were handed down against the companies, of which Sinopec pled guilty to three charges of failing to oversee the health and safety of its employees.

McGowan noted that “Sinopec didn’t just import workers from the third world, they also imported third-world health and safety standards. Alberta missed its chance to send a message that Chinese companies working in the oil sands need to play by Canadian rules.”

While McGowan added that it might be the largest safety fine in Alberta history, it further demonstrates that Alberta has a long history in failing to aggressively enforce its own workplace safety rules.

The two victims, Ge Genbao, 28, and Lui Hongliang, 33, were just two of the more than 130 Cantonese-speaking workers who were transported from China for the Sinopec oil sands project.

Complete Abdication of Safety Responsibility

“We shouldn’t forget the circumstances that led to the deaths of Genbao and Hongliang,” McGowan went on to say. “The company did not get the construction plans certified by an engineer. The wires weren’t strong enough to hold up against the wind. It was a complete abdication of responsibility on the part of the employer.”

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corp.

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

The death of diver in Washington State last summer while on the job has led to repercussions for one department.

State officials with The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) recently cited the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for 15 worker-safety violations as part of their investigation into a drowning fatality involving a DNR diver last summer. The citation represents a potential penalty of $172,900.

Deceased Diver Part of 4 Person Dive Team

The deceased diver, David Scheinost, 24, was part of a four-person dive team from the DNR Aquatic Resources Division that was collecting geoduck samples to test for paralytic shellfish poisoning from the Manzanita and Restoration Point geoduck harvest tracts off Bainbridge Island on July 24.

As the day unfolded, a pair of SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) divers had deployed on their third dive of the day when Scheinost came to the surface in distress, calling out that he couldn’t breathe. The others were unable to reach him before he went beneath the surface and was gone. His body was found three days later.

L&I Investigation Points Out Problems

The L&I investigation involving the dive-safety policies and practices at DNR discovered:

●370 occurrences over a six-month period in which divers were deployed without carrying a reserve breathing-gas supply.

●DNR did not ensure a designated person was in charge at the dive location to supervise all aspects of the diving operation affecting the health and safety of the divers.

L&I Says ‘Willful’ Violations Took Place

As L&I concluded, these were “willful” violations, which means they were committed with intentional disregard or plain indifference to worker safety and health regulations.

“Commercial diving involves risks that unfortunately lead too often to tragedies like this incident,” stated Anne Soiza, assistant director of L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “These significant risk factors require advance planning, properly maintained equipment and strict adherence to procedures to ensure the protection of workers’ lives on each and every dive.”

Along with the pair of willful violations, L&I cited DNR for eight “serious” and five “general” violations for not complying with standard safe-diving practices and procedures, including failure to:

●Have effective accident prevention and training programs.

●Ensure that divers maintained continual visual contact with each other.

●Inspect and maintain equipment.

●Have a stand-by diver available while divers are in the water.

L&I is responsible for workplace safety and health and investigating workplace deaths for all private, state and local government worksites.

Provided With 15 Working Days to Appeal Citation.

As with any citation, penalty money paid is put in the workers compensation supplemental pension fund, assisting workers and loved ones of those who have died while working.

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

It appears that the efforts to make Victoria (Australia) workplaces safer has paid off.

According to information from WorkCover, 2012 witnessed 18 people pass away while on the job in Victorian workplaces, that being seven less than the 25 who were killed in 2011. That figure for 2012 also equals the prior record low of 18 workplace fatalities in 2005.

7.77 People Injured for Every Million Hours Worked

The number of Victorians who were injured at work also dipped to a new low. Last year, 7.77 people were injured for every million hours worked, that in comparison to 7.9 people per million hours worked in 2011.

WorkCover Assistant Treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips remarked that the improvement was a major achievement, maintaining the state’s track record of leading Australia in terms of workplace safety.

“In 2012 national data confirmed Victoria’s position as having the safest workplaces of any state or territory in Australia, and that’s a credit to employers, workers and the efforts of the WorkSafe team,” Rich-Phillips remarked. “Many things need to come together to achieve these sorts of outcomes – active engagement and support from employers and workers, practical assistance combined with inspection and enforcement activity by the VWA and a commitment to improved workplace safety.”

Victorian Workplace Deaths Nearly Halve in Last Decade

According to Rich-Phillips, fatalities in Victorian workplaces had almost halved over the past decade.

“However, it is clear that more can be done, as many of the fatalities and injuries resulted from known hazards, with known safety solutions,” Rich-Phillips said. “Eighteen families had a sad and distressing 2012 because a family member failed to return home safely. The impact of a workplace death is also enormous on colleagues and employers, which is why we ask everyone returning to work to make safety their number one priority this year.”

Of the 18 deaths in 2012, 12 were in Melbourne and six were in regional Victoria. Sixteen of the fatalities were turned out to be males, one was an elderly woman and one was a four-year-old. Half of the deaths involved men aged 50 and over.

“Employers can improve safety and reduce injuries by making sure people are trained and supervised, that they have the right equipment to safely carry out a job and that machines are properly guarded,” Rich-Phillips said. “Workers can also improve safety in the workplace by taking responsibility for their actions. A shortcut might seem like a good idea but it’s often a shortcut to a serious injury.”

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

Looking for zero tolerance on the job when it comes to bullying, a recent work-stress survey, conducted by UNISON City of Glasgow (Scotland) branch using the HSE Stress Management Standards, discovered some 23 percent of respondents were always, often or on occasion bullied.

The survey came to light once concerns were raised by UNISON members regarding the affect spending reductions were having on workloads and workplace stress.

According to the branch’s health and safety officer, Scott Donohoe, “We had a 96 percent response rate, which was excellent. Unfortunately, a lot of the members’ responses were in the red, meaning that work-stress was a major concern and that urgent action was required.

“After presenting our findings to the employer, we agreed that a couple of focus groups, consisting of employees, members and safety reps, would be setup to discuss the results of the survey and identify stressors.”

Donohoe added that “The work-stress campaign has been successful in recruiting new members and activists. Our next step is to review the risk assessment to ensure that the ‘prevent and control’ measures have been implemented and are still relevant, and widen the work-stress campaign to include other employees.”

Guide Recommended for All Employers Dealing with Stress

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guide “Managing the Causes of Work Related Stress: a Step by Step Approach Using the Management Standards” is recommended for use by all employers when looking at how to deal with the problem of stress. The guide places risk assessment at the heart of any plan to lower the risk of work-related stress.

However, the HSE makes clear that prior to a risk assessment being undertaken, the employer is best served if they:

Talk to their staff about work-related stress and explain what they want to identify;

Set up a group to help (which includes trade union safety/employee representatives, the unit health and safety officer, one or more supervisors or line managers, an HR representative and, where possible, someone from the occupational health service);

Explain that the first step is to undertake a risk assessment;

Ask the group to assist in the assessment; and

Agree a date when the key findings of the risk assessment will be available.

In assessing the risks in your workplace, its is recommended that your employer review the five steps to risk assessment:

1 Identify the hazards;

2 Decide who might be harmed and how;

3 Evaluate the risks and decide on precaution;

4 Record your findings and implement them; and

5 Review your assessment and update if necessary.

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

A company boss from north west London recently appeared in court after a worker had to have a finger amputated when his hand was caught in machinery and severely crushed, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Ernest Henderson, 43, of Enfield, was working as a maintenance manager for Ian Goldstein, who runs a smoked salmon business at premises in Lowther Road, Stanmore, Harrow.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard recently that Henderson was attempting to repair a fish skinning machine that was making a loud screeching noise when in use, when the incident occurred on 17 December 2010.

Removed Safety Guards & Switched on Machine

He removed the safety guards around the machine and then switched it on, but a rag he was holding for cleaning got caught and his right hand was dragged into the moving parts.His hand was severely crushed and his index finger was so badly damaged it had to be amputated at hospital. The injury means he still finds it difficult to do everyday tasks, although he has now returned to work.

An investigation by HSE found that Henderson had not been trained in how to repair machinery at the site, despite being the maintenance manager. His competence to repair machinery had never been adequately assessed and he was left unsupervised when completing maintenance work.

He had also not been given a safe system of work to follow to ensure he carried out the task safely, by not running the machine once the safety guards were removed. It was also found that the emergency stop buttons on the fish skinning machine were not operational.

Employer Pleaded Guilty & Fined $2,500

Ian Goldstein, 61, of Lowther Road, Stanmore, Harrow, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was given a two-year conditional discharge and was ordered to pay $2,500 in fines.

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

A Welsh employee suffered leg injuries when a reversing forklift truck struck him while working at a cardboard factory, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Michael Jones, of Abercarn, was inspecting production in an area of the factory at the Prince of Wales Industrial Estate, Abercarn, Caerphilly when the incident happened in April of 2011.

Jones' employer, Smurfit Kappa, was recently fined a total of $12,500 and ordered to pay $22,200 in fines by Caerphilly Magistrates in a prosecution brought by the HSE in November of this year.

Inadequate Measures in Place for Safety

The court was told that the forklift truck was reversing around a storage area to drop off an empty pallet when it struck Jones, who was carrying out routine work on stock in the area. Although the forklift was travelling at a slow speed, Jones suffered a broken ankle and fractured heel and subsequently developed deep vein thrombosis.

An investigation by the HSE revealed that the forklift was fitted with reversing alarms, but these were not audible over the noise in the production area. No other safety measures were used, such as mirrors or flashing lights on the vehicles.

Although the company had a transport policy, they had not adequately assessed the risk to all pedestrians and there were inadequate measures in place to separate pedestrians from forklift vehicles in the production area.

Despite the transport policy highlighting the need for other safety devices such as mirrors, these were not fitted to the vehicles.

Employer Pleaded Guilty

According to HSE Inspector, Dean Baker, "Employers must ensure that they assess the movement of vehicles and where possible segregate pedestrians to eliminate the risk. If this is not possible, measures such as audible reversing alarms, mirrors, flashing lights and clearly marked pedestrian zones should be considered to prevent future injuries and fatalities."

Smurfit Kappa Corrugated UK Ltd of Darlington Road, West Auckland, County Durham pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

The owner of Yukon's (Canada) Wolverine Mine has settled and agreed to pay a $150,000 fine, the largest possible, following an accident two years ago that killed a worker, according to a report from The Canadian Press.

Yukon Zinc Corp., and contractor Procon Mining and Tunnelling offered a guilty plea recently to charges tied to a collapse which killed 25-year-old Will Fisher.

Buried Beneath 70 Tons of Rock

Fisher was a mechanic for Procon when he was buried beneath 70 tons of rock on April 25, 2010 in the mine 118 miles northwest of Watson Lake.

He and other employees had been servicing equipment used to install support in the walls and ceiling of the underground mine. The two other employees were not seriously hurt.

Judge John Faulkner was to follow up the fine with a decision on how much Procon will pay for its role in Fisher's death, but a Yukon government lawyer is seeking the same $150,000 fine.

The court heard that during the night shift prior to the collapse occurring, water in the tunnel caused the ground under the rock bolter equipment to become soft and the machine to get stuck. The soft ground had to be dug out.

Yukon Zinc was deemed responsible for, among other things, providing geo-technical support and a plan for ground support for the mine, but the company said it relied on Procon's safety program.

Inadequate Safety Program

An expert brought in after Fisher's death concluded the mishap was caused by inadequate ground support, given that the tunnel had been widened and dug out.

A second expert concluded the safety program at the mine was not ''robust or comprehensive enough for the type of operation or high hazard environment,'' the agreed statement of facts reads.

Second Death in 6 Months

This is not the first time an employee has died at the mine.

Six months before Fisher's death, 20-year-old Paul Wentzell, an apprentice mechanic with Procon, was crushed by a driverless Toyota Land Cruiser.

Procon pleaded guilty to two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and was fined close to $100,000.

In the six months prior to Fisher's death, there were three ground falls at the mine, the court was told.

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

Improvements to the workplace insurance rate model mean employers’ safety and return-to-work records will have a bigger impact on rates, the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia (WCB) announced recently.

The Board is introducing changes to make rates more responsive, to encourage positive change, and to ultimately reduce the human and financial cost of workplace injury in the province.

“An employer’s cost for WCB insurance depends on two things – the cost of claims in their industry overall, and the cost of claims in their individual workplace,” said Stuart MacLean, CEO of the WCB. “Many employers are making valuable investments in safety within their workplaces, and we’re changing the rate setting model to more accurately reflect their efforts.”

Bigger Impact When Fatality Occurs

Among the rate model improvements are changes that make rates more responsive to an individual employer’s efforts to implement and maintain safety and return-to-work improvements. There will also be a bigger impact on rates when a fatality occurs.The WCB will continue its practice of offering financial incentives to encourage safety improvements.

Each year the WCB issues surcharges to employers whose claims costs are significantly and consistently higher than their industry peers. In 2013,90 employers will receive a surcharge, down from 96 in 2012. Surcharged employers have claims costs that are at least three times their industry average for at least four consecutive years. Surcharges are cumulative and can add an additional 20 percent or more to a firm’s base rate each year. Employers can qualify for surcharge rebates if they make safety investments.

Average Rate Holding Steady

For the ninth consecutive year, the average rate for 2013 is holding steady at $2.65 per $100 of assessable payroll. Rates are decreasing by more than 10 percent in a number of industries including printing, shipbuilding and boatbuilding, used goods moving and storage and dairy farms. Bakeries, site work (excavating, paving and landscaping), stevedoring, general freight trucking and building material sales, are among the industries whose rates are increasing.

While there has reportedly been significant progress in injury reduction over the past several years, 27 workers in Nova Scotia lost their lives in the workplace last year, and there were 6,616 injuries serious enough for the worker to require time away from work.

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

An Oamaru, New Zealand meat processor has been fined $47,250 and ordered to pay $10,500 in reparation after an employee’s hand was crushed between unguarded fixed rollers on a conveyor belt, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

The Oamaru District Court heard recently that in January this year at the Lean Meats Oamaru Limited premises on Redcastle Road, Oamaru the worker was packing cuts of meat after they had been vacuum packed. As she tried to mop up excess water from the conveyor her hand became trapped in the fixed rollers leading to crush injuries needing hospital treatment.

Simple Safety Steps Would Have Avoided Injury

Acting MBIE Labor Group General Manager Southern, Francois Barton, noted “Unguarded machinery is extremely dangerous and an accident waiting to happen. There were several simple steps available to the employer that would have safeguarded against this sort of incident happening that were not taken – such as replacing fixed rollers with pop-out ones or putting in tunnel guards.

“This case illustrates the importance of effective safety auditing that identifies all possible trapping points and either removes them completely or guards them effectively.

MBIE Labor has a three-year project under way with the aim of reducing the number of workplace accidents involving unguarded and inadequately guarded machinery,” Barton commented.

Conveyors are a well-known hazard across a range of industries and have been involved in incidents and accidents for many years, according to officials.

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

DISCLAMER: Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different and change frequently. We do the best we can to provide up-to-date information but do not guarantee it is always perfect. Consult with your corporate legal counsel before implementing any cost-containment program.

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